Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,
    If there was any doubt that Sen. John McCain is as bad as President George W. Bush or worse on Social Security, out the window of the “straight-talk express” it went at his recent town-hall campaign event in Denver. 
    When asked about his position, McCain said, “Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. It’s an absolute disgrace.” 
    An “absolute disgrace?” Actually, Americans have a  pretty good idea how Social Security works, senator. It is the same pay-as-you-go system it always has been since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt conceived it more than seven decades ago — delivering rock-solid guaranteed benefits for millions of retirees every day.
    It is unfortunate that McCain feels the need to use such extreme political rhetoric to push his Social Security agenda at the behest of his friends on Wall Street. McCain told the Wall Street Journal in March, “As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private-savings accounts are a part of it.”
    This is the same misguided plan Bush proposed in 2005 that was quickly and overwhelmingly rejected by the American people. A plan that would turn Social Security from a guarantee into a guaranteed gamble by diverting trillions of dollars away from the Social Security trust fund to pay for risky private-investment accounts—money that would be used otherwise to pay benefits. A plan that would slash guaranteed benefits for millions of seniors, survivors and people with disabilities. This plan that would explode the national debt, all without adding a single day to the life of Social Security—not one single day.
    If nothing were changed, Social Security would continue paying full benefits until the year 2046. McCain’s calls for privatization – tearing down the entire house to fix the kitchen sink – are more than a little reckless and raise serious questions about his judgment.  
    No, Sen. McCain, Social Security is not “an absolute disgrace.” Your promise to dismantle it with a risky investment scheme is.
    Known formerly as Americans United to Protect Social Security, Americans United for Change was founded in 2005.

Jeremy J. Funk
Communications Director, Americans United for Change

Editor’s note: This letter is in response to a speech John McCain gave July 7, 2008.